


To Where the Water Was

by BekahRose



Category: Merlin (TV), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Community: intoabar, Crossover, Gen, Series Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 01:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BekahRose/pseuds/BekahRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin's been following lead after lead, only for it to end up in nothing, until he follows one lead to Storybrooke, Maine and meets someone who says they have a knack for finding things. (Merlin walks into a bar and meets... Ruby)</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Where the Water Was

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Merlin belongs to the BBC and Shine, and Ruby belongs to ABC. I make no money from this.  
>  **Warning:** Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen either Merlin 5x13 and Once Upon a Time series 2. Mentions of major character death.  
>  **Notes:** Written for Intoabar Fall 2013. Many, many thanks to [digthewriter](http://digthewriter.livejournal.com/) for the beta and the notes. You are a star! xx Any further typos or errors are mine.
> 
> \-----

“Can I get a Guinness, please?” He asks when the man behind the bar looks up and gives him a questioning look. 

He’s exhausted. He’s been travelling for months, criss-crossing this country and travelling back and forth between Britain and America, following one clue after another and getting nothing but dead ends. This is his last stop. Before Merlin gives up and goes home to wait… to keep waiting.

The barman slides his drink to him and Merlin fumbles with his wallet before handing over the right amount and turning in his seat to survey the room. A flash of blond catches his eye and for a moment his heart picks up speed only to come to a stuttering halt when the flash turns out to be just a trick of the light. He curses himself and goes back to staring morosely into his drink. He doesn’t want to be here. He doesn’t want to have come all this way, following signs and the taste of magic only to run into yet another dead end.

“It can’t be all bad,” a voice says behind him, causing Merlin to look up and almost spilling his drink in the process. She’s stunning, the young woman behind him, and she reminds him a little of people he knew several lifetimes ago.

“You’re right, it can’t.” Merlin says, smiling and motioning to the seat beside him at the bar. “But that doesn’t stop it from feeling that way.”

“You’re not from around here, are you?” the girl asks, sliding into the seat and Merlin averts his gaze from the way her skirt rides up. It wouldn’t do to be forced out of town for impropriety before he has a chance to look for what he came here for.

“No,” he shakes his head. “I’m looking for someone…” He trails off, not entirely sure how to tell someone that he’s following the magic in the air to find the rising place of a long-dead king.

“Oh!” Her eyes light up and Merlin can’t help but smile at the pure joy that seems to be radiating from her. “I could help you,” she says clutching Merlin’s arm. “I’ve been told I’m really good at finding things.”

“I… I’m not sure,” Merlin says, looking at the place on his arms where her fingers rest. He can feel the tingle of magic where she touches him and he’s unsure whether this is a good sign or not, but he really has nothing else to lose.

“I’ve been told I have a nose for sniffing out missing things and people,” she sing-songs and Merlin can feel his resolve slipping. “Plus, I live here and who better to escort a stranger around town than one of the locals?” She arches an eyebrow and Merlin laughs.

“Alright, but first, I’m Merlin,” he tells her, holding out his hand.

Her eyes widen and she looks from Merlin’s face down to his proffered hand. “Your name is Merlin?” she asks before a giggle bubbled up out of her chest. “Like the great Wizard?”

Merlin laughs, though it feels a little strained, and he nods. “Yeah, like the great Wizard.”

“I’m Ruby,” she says and clasps Merlin’s hand, giving it a firm shake. “So, who’re you looking for?”

Merlin smiles and shakes his head, already feeling the blush form on his cheeks as he answers, “A man, a friend.” He rubs the back of his neck and takes a sip of his drink. “He went missing some time ago and I’ve been chasing clues that have led me here.”

“Well then,” Ruby says, “Today is your lucky day, because I just happen to be friends with the sheriff, and I know for a fact that they found someone wandering in the woods near the old wishing well, just this morning.”

“Someone wandering in the woods?” Merlin lifts an eyebrow in question when Ruby nods vehemently. “Does this happen a lot around here?”

“Well,” Ruby starts, frowns and then ploughs ahead. “Not really, it’s happened a couple of times, first with David and then with Kathryn, but those were pretty extenuating circumstances, and I’m pretty sure Kathryn was found in an alley and not in the woods.” She stops for breath and issues Merlin with a bright smile. “So, who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and this person is the one you’re looking for.”

Merlin can’t help it. He laughs. Ruby’s enthusiasm is infectious and the hope he’d been nursing flares to life and he can feel the magic that permeates the air down to the very core of his being. This place, this… Storybrooke… is rich with it and it along with Ruby’s eagerness to help is enough to lighten the weight on Merlin’s shoulders.

“Well?” Ruby asks and Merlin can see that she’s practically vibrating with energy, ready to spring to action and Merlin waves the bartender over.

“Well, first we finish our drinks – on me,” Merlin says to her before turning to the bartender and ordering another Guinness and a glass of wine for Ruby. “And then you tell me about this person they found by the wishing well?”

Ruby nods and accepts her drink, taking a large swallow before speaking again. “Well, the wishing well is supposed to be m… special,” she says and Merlin doesn’t fail to notice how she hesitated over the word special.

“Aren’t all wishing wells?” He asks, frowning in confusion at the thought of this one being more special than any other he’d come across.

“Well… yes… but this is one is different. You don’t just toss your pennies in there and wish for something and then walk away without…” She stops and bites her lip, gaze darting around the bar before leaning in to lower her voice. “Can you keep a secret?” She looks so earnest that Merlin bites back the laugh bubbling up in his throat and nods.

“Storybrooke isn’t just your average town,” she says, and Merlin nods for her to continue. “This town… we have Magic here.” And the way she says it, Merlin can hear the importance she places on the idea of magic. “The wishing well… it says that if you wish on it, it will return what you have lost.”

“Really?” Merlin asks, eyes widening at the thought of a well that actually answers your wishes.

“Yep,” Ruby says sitting back, “My Granny says that the well is fed by an ancient lake from the other side of the world.”

“What? How?” Merlin asks, brow furrowed in confusion.

“Magic doesn’t really adhere to the laws of the regular world,” Ruby tells him and has another sip of her wine.

“No,” Merlin says slowly, “I suppose it doesn’t.” In all honesty, Merlin’s shocked that Ruby believes that the town is magic and her earnestness makes him want to believe it as well; although it’s easier said than done when he’s had a millennia and then some to come to terms with the fact that people just don’t believe in magic. He drains the last of his Guinness slips out from his seat at the bar before holding his arm out to Ruby.

“Well then, Ruby,” he says as she finishes her wine and sets her glass down. “I would be honoured if you would help me find my missing friend.”

Ruby’s laughter is light as she wraps her hand around Merlin’s elbow and he feels it again. The tingle of magic, that this girl is something more than just good at finding lost things. For a moment, she reminds him of the Knights, ready to dive headfirst into the unknown with a complete stranger. As they leave the bar, he finds himself hoping as Ruby tells him all about the people of Storybrooke – that just this once, the magic will work in his favour and this wishing well will return his friend, and his King, to him.


End file.
